Hiking the Highlands – Beech Mountain falls

At nearly a mile high, the water on Beech Mountain doesn’t really have any place to go – but down. Here, Pond Creek tumbles, slipping over ancient rock formations beside thick nests of rhododendron and laurel. Talk about tranquil. Listen: That’s about all you could call the rippling waters of the Lower Pond Creek Trail.…

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Hillbilly Stereotypes make me wanna holler

When I saw the clip of the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart aping a misinformed West Virginia voter in May, I had a flashback to a Saturday Night Live “Appalachian ER” skit, which featured rocker Neil Young embroiled in a mess of incest and depravity. How the media loves its hillbillies. Makes me wanna holler: The…

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